Trailer vehicle support and locking means therefor



c. H. WAGNER 2,016,468

TRAILER VEHICLE! SUPPORT AND LOCKING MEANS THEREFOR oct. s, 1935.

Filed July 18. 1952' 3 MR. .www i@ WENN.,

di te: muy# l latentedv Oct. 8, 1935 UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRAILER VEHICLE SUPPORT AND LOCKING MEANS THEREFOR Y Charles H. Wagner, Washington, D. Q., assigner to The HighwavTrailer Company, Edgerton,

Application July 18, 1932, Serial No. 623,233 I l Claims. (Cl. 28o-733,1)

5 position and releasing the same from said position. p y

An object of this invention is to provide means for shifting the Asupporting elements or legs of.

the trailer vehicle to 'and from operative posi-' tion and providing means i or automatically locking supporting elements in their operative position and utilizing the shifting mechanism as the' releasing means for the locking i means.

Another object is the provision of power op-- erated shifting means for moving the supporting elements of the trailer to vsupporting positions together with lockingV means automatically op' erable when the supporting elements have been so moved, to positively hold the elements in said position together with means for releasing the locking means incident to movement of the shift- `ing means.

A further object is to provide a supporting mechanism' for trailers shiftable to andl from supportingposition and locking means engageable with said supporting 'means to hold the same in trailer `.supporting and inoperative positionand power operated actuating means for shifting the supporting mechanism to said positions, said actuating means being movably connectedto said supporting mechanism and shiftable preliminarily to release said locking means and secondarily tomove said supporting means. -A still further object is the provision of a combined actuating and locking means for trailer supports in which the actuating means is' shiftable to automatically preliminarily release said locking means to permit the support to be shifted and secondarily shiftable to move the support to or from trailer supporting position.

Another object is the provision in trailer vehicles of v'pivoted leg supports and pneumatic means for shifting said support to and from its supporting position, together with lock means engageable with the support 4to positively'hold the supportin either its operative trailer supporting. position or in inoperative non-supporting position and an operating pistonmember operable by' saidv pneumatic means having a yieldable connection with said support and cooperating with said locking means 4upon movesaid locking means and to subsequently actuate the supporting means. Y

support in raised or 1 v`in dotted lines in Fig. 1. ment thereof by said pneumatic means to release y g .position in full lines, and 'in released position in dotted lines, and

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view ci 'a slightly modified form of rnyinvention.

Like reference characters designate corre- 15 sponding -parts in the several iigures oi" the drawing.

In the' drawing l indicates a trailer 4vehicleadapted to be coupled to and uncoupled from a tractor, not shown, and provided with the usual 2G tractor wheels, braking mechanism, etc., not' shown, since the same forms no part of this invention.

, At the`fox'ward end of the trailer vehicle as seen in Fig. l isdisposed the temporary support 25 2 comprising thelegs 2a which are pivotally secured at 3a to the brackets 3 xed' to the trailer frame 4. The'legs 2 are preferably provided with wheels'or rollers 5 in order to permit the trailer to be readily moved from place to place when detached from the tractor, and supported by the temporary support aforesaid. n, A guide bar 6 is horizontally secured below the frame 4 and has slidably dispbsedthereon the guide block 1 vwhich has connected thereto at' 8 the operatinglink member or connection `5l, the other end of 4this member 9 being pivotally secured at I0 to the legs or supporting element 2. Latches II and I2 are pivoted at I3 to the block I and are alternatelyengageable with the catches or shoulders I4 and I5 carried by the guide bars 6 as lseen more clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The latch II when in engagement with the catch or shoulder I4 will positively hold the support 2 in operative trailer supporting position while upon movement of the block to the left hand end .of the guide 4bar 5 the latch -I2 will engage .the shoulder' I5 and positively lock the 'noperative positionas seen 50 explained. A spring 216. 551

connectingthe ears I'I is provided for yieldably maintaining the latches in engaging position.

The block v'I is provided with an opening or bore I8 in which is slidably disposed the operating rod I9 forming the support actuating means and the latch release means for the latches II and I2. The block is slotted at 20 to accommodate the pin 2| extending through the operating rod I9. This pin engages the cam portion on the tails II@l and I 2 upon movement of the rod longitudinally within the bore It of the block 1.

The pin 2| upon further movement thereof by the rod. I9 will engage the end wall thereof and cause the block I to be moved on the guide 6 thus actuating the supporting means 2. In order to maintain the pin 2| in approximately the central portion of the slot 20 when a fluid pressure operative mechanism such as the cylinder 22 and piston 23 mechanism is used,as shown in the drawing, and thereby eliminate the drifting of the piston 23 and rod Iaafter the pressure is cut oi, compression .springs 24 are interposed between the ends ofthe block lI and collars 25 secured on' the piston rod actuating member I9.

The pressure for movingthe piston may be introduced in any suitable manner but I have shown for an example a supply pipe 26 which may be supplied with air from the tractor, through the coupling'Z'I when the trailer has been coupled thereto.

A suitably disposedcontrol valve 28 having an operating handle 2Sfis provided for selectively controlling and admitting the pressure uid to either end of the cylinder 22 as desired. i

In the operation of the device .reference should be had to Figs. 1 and. 2 which disclose the temporary supports in supporting position, and the trailer vehicle detached from the tractor.

The tractor (not shown) is positioned under the forward portion of `the'irame 4 and connection'established through the coupling 2l between the pressure supply on the tractor and the supply pipe 26.

The operator will now move the valve 28 to admit pressure to the forward end of the cylinder 22 through the conduit 26a moving the piston 23 and rod I9 to the left, which shifts the pin 2| to the left-hand end of slot 20 and simultaneously engaging the tail I2 of latch II rocking the' same down out of engagement with the catch This is thepreliminary release shoulder I4. movement of the actuating mechanism, after which further movement oi the piston will move the guide block I to the opposite end of the guide gbar 6 whereupon the latch I2 will engage the catch shoulder I5 to positively lock the block at that end of the bar, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, whereupon the legs or temporary supports 2 are positively held in their'raisedor'inoperative position.

If pressure is cut oi from the cylinder either due to leakage or thevalve being turned lto neutral position the springs 24 will centralize the pin 2| in the slot 2,0 so that accidental displacement of either of the latches thereby is avoided. When it is desired to uncouple the trailer and tractor the valve 28 is rst shifted to admit pressure to .the left-hand end of the cylinder 22 through pipe 26h. Preliminary movement of the rod I9 and pin'2I will depress the latch I2 and release the same from catch I5 thus unlocking become engaged with the shoulder on catch I4 thus bringing the parts to full line position as shown in the drawing. The supporting elements are now automatically locked insupporting position and the tractor may be uncoupled from 5 the trailer. yUpon the uncoupling aforesaid the air pressure will be released due to breakage at the coupling 2l, however, the springs 24 will ccnt'ralize the pin 2| in the slot 20 and resist any movement under these conditions toward the 10' tail II of the latch II. Reference to Fig. 3 discloses a slight modification in which the latches, release mechanism, springs, etc., are disposed Within the block 1a.

In this form the block 'Ia is provided with a cen- 15 of the latches IIc or I2 to releasing position depending which direction the rod I9a is moved.

The block Ia is counter-bored to provide spring recesses ZIIa for the compression centralization springs 24". The operation of this form is iden- 3() tical with that described in respect to Figs. i and 2- and will not therefore be described. In certain forms of construction where there is no tendency of the member I9 to drift or accidentally move longitudinally the springs 24 or 24h may be en- 35 tirely dispensed with. o

While the specific details of construction have been herein shown and described, 'the invention is not conned thereto as changes and alterations may be made without departing from the 40 spirit thereof as dened by the appended claims. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a trailer vehicle, supporting means there- 45.

for, actuating means for lshifting the supporting means to trailer supporting position and to an inoperative non-supporting position, locking means for positively holding said supporting means in operative position and in inoperative 50 position, and means on said actuating means for automatically releasing said locking means pre-J liminary to movement of the supporting means f by the actuating means incident to relative movement therebetween. 1 i 55 2. In a supporting mechanism .for trailer ve` vhicles, a trailer support and.v actuating means therefore arranged to be ,mounted on a'trailer, said trailer support being movablebythe actuating mechanism to supporting and 'non-support- 50 ing positions, locking mechanism to prevent said movement, said locking means cooperating with the actuating mechanism to be released thereby preliminary to movement of the support 4by the actuating mechanism tions.

from either i said posim5l 3. A trailer supporting unit comprisinga trail-1 Y er support movable to trailer'supporting position,

and to non-supporting position, lockingmeans for holding saidsupport 1in said positions -to pre- 70 vent accidental displacement thereof, power actuating means for-.moving the support to and from said positions, and having relative movement .with respect'to said SuIJDQrt, said actuating means cooperating with said locking means to release the same lupon relative movement between the actuating means and the support preliminarily to movement of the support by thepower actuating means from either oi its positions.

4. In a trailer vehicle of the class described. a movable leg supporting structure shiftable to trailer supporting position and to inoperative position, actuating means on the trailer for moving the support from said positions, locking means for holding the support against movement and release means for. the locking means carried by the actuating means for releasing the locking means and subsequently moving the support.

5. In a trailer vehicle of the class described, a frame, a support for' supporting the trailer when detached from a tractor andmovable into an. inoperative non-supporting position, power operated actuating mechanism on the trailer for moving the support to and from said supporting position, latch means carriedV by the actuating mechanism and engageable with a stationary part on the trailer when the support is in operative supporting position to prevent movement thereof and a relatively shiftable part operable by said actuating mechanism to release said latch means upon relative movement of said shiftable part incident to application of power to the actuating mechanism.

6. In a trailer vehicle, a temporary support therefore movably connected thereto, actuating mechanism for moving the support to operative and inoperativel positions including a longitudinally movable part and a connection between said part and the support to shift the same incident to movement of said part, latch means carriedV iby said part engageable with a stationary part on the trailer to prevent movementl of said part, a .second longitudinall movable part having. a shiftable connection with the rstmentioned longitudinally movable part for moving the iixst therefore, shiftable .to and from trailer supportpart, said second part being arranged to engage and release said latch means upon the relative shiftingl between the iirst and second parts and to'move said iirst part to cause shifting of the support. 5

7. Ina trailer vehicle, a temporary leg support movable to supporting and non-supporting positions, latch means for locking the support in said positions, a pressure cylinder and means operated thereby for' releasing said latch 10 means and positively moving said support irom said positions.

8. In a trailer vehicle, a temporary leg support movable to supporting and non-supporting positions. latch means for locking thesupport in 15 said positions, a pressure cylinder and means operated thereby for preliminar-ily releasing said latch means and subsequently positively moving said support from supporting to non-supporting position and from non-supporting to supporting position.

9. In a trailerv vehicle, a temporary leg support movable to supporting and non-supporting position, latch means i'or locking the support in said positions, a pressure cylinder and means operated thereby for releasing said latch means and positively moving said support from non-supporting to supporting position.

10. In a trailer vehicle, a temporary support ing position, a guide bar on said trailer, a guide block slidable on said bar. latch means prevent-- ing the sliding movement aforesaid, an actuating member forpositiveiy moving said block to shift the support tosupporting position having a $5 relatively shiftable movement therewith, means for releasing said latch means upon the, relative movement shift'aforesaid and an operating c onnection between the block and the support'.

Y CHARLES H. WAGNER. 4o 

